Youth Library Research Articles

Editorial

Editorial Björn Sundmark (bio) as i write this editorial, the Paris talks on climate change have just closed. The commentators are optimistic; maybe there is hope for the planet after all. Yet from my December horizon in southern Sweden, I am reminded on a daily basis that the autumn temperatures have never in a hundred years been so high. “Winter is not coming,” to paraphrase a well-known series. And closer to the polar regions, the situation is even worse. There, the thawing permafrost and diminishing icecaps have already harmed or altered the ecology drastically. The flora and fauna, as well as the people there, are living under increasing pressure. One can only wonder how this will affect the way of life and culture of the indigenous peoples. Of course, minorities and Indigenous populations already struggle to maintain their unique cultural and historical characteristics in the face of majority culture and globalization, but what is happening now is an ecological sea change (literally); it threatens the material and ecological foundations of those cultures especially. This issue of Bookbird focuses on Indigenous children’s literature. The cover is from Arctic Stories by the author Michael Kusugak (discussed in one of the articles) and illustrator Vladyana Krykorka. The illustration—with the Inuit girl, the huskies, the snow and ice—can serve as a reminder of a world and way of life that may be rapidly vanishing. All peoples should of course have the right to choose and shape their own future: to adopt and embrace the new, but also to choose what to keep of the old ways. However, when the world is damaged, such options are reduced—and most drastically for those who are the least to blame. Thus, to me the illustration also serves as inspiration to continue the fight against global warming. Maybe this is what the girl is telling the black bookbird on the cover; maybe she is sending us a message. But these are just my private musings. Roxanne Harde, who I welcome back to Bookbird as guest editor for this issue, provides a critical yet personal introduction to the theme, where she draws on her own extensive work and research into Indigenous children’s books. [End Page 2] In her overview, she comments on the themed texts: three articles, a Letter, and an essay in the Children & Their Books section. I am also happy to announce that yet another Bookbird editor emerita, Barbara Lehman, makes a comeback in this issue in the capacity of Postcard editor. As usual, there is also a full review section (the “Books on Books”) collected and edited by Christiane Raabe and Jutta Reusch of the International Youth Library in Munich. Liz Page reports from the wide world of IBBY. In the Letter section, we find Nita Berry writing on the topic “Social Change through Children’s Books—An Indian Perspective.” And finally, a text that I have slotted, tongue in cheek, under the heading “Dogs & Their Books”—an essay by Helene Ehriander on a project with “reading education assistance dogs,” or “Book Dog.” In other words, there is much to read in this issue of Bookird for human and canine alike. [End Page 3] Björn Sundmark BJÖRN SUNDMARK is Professor of English Literature in the Faculty of Education, Malmö University, Sweden. He has published numerous articles on children’s literature, and is the author of the study Alice in the Oral-Literary Continuum (1999) and co-editor of The Nation in Children’s Literature (Routledge 2013). He is editor of Bookbird–Journal of International Children’s Literature. Copyright © 2016 Bookbird, Inc.

Editorial

Editorial Björn Sundmark (bio) Bookbird is, as we know, a journal of “international children’s literature.” What does that mean? Specifically, what does “international” mean? I think I know what the founding mothers and fathers of IBBY and the International Youth Library meant with the term—something along the lines of “quality children’s literature from all over the world that transcends linguistic, cultural and national borders, ultimately bringing mutual understanding and peace on earth.” But is that how the term is understood today? This is not just a rhetorical question. I have had reason to think about it after a few email conversations I have had recently, and it has made me consider the purpose of Bookbird. First, there are those who write to me doubting the “international” relevance of a book from a small country, and written in a language unfamiliar to most Bookbird readers. However, for Bookbird, size and scale does not matter in the least. A children’s book in a language threatened by extinction could have enormous international relevance, precisely because of its importance as a carrier of language and culture content. In any case, it appears that neither the country nor the language needs to be particularly small to trigger doubts about relevance. I have heard it from children’s literature experts from some of the largest countries and languages in the world. The extreme version of such a self-deprecatory understanding of “international” is that nothing really qualifies as international unless it is in English to begin with or has been accepted into the English children’s literature canon through translation. But this is not the position of Bookbird, or of me as editor. Rather, Bookbird’s unique position as an academic journal devoted to children’s literature, our “sales pitch,” so to speak, is that we strive to include pieces on children’s books from all over the world and from as many languages and cultures as is possible. Of course, our language medium is English—and this does present a real problem since it indirectly favors coverage of English language books—but our ambition is unequivocally to give place to articles on literature from all corners of the globe. I would, for instance, encourage the translation of recent important critical texts into English so that they may be published in Bookbird, too. This matters because “International children’s literature” does not only mean that Bookbird is (or should be) a forum for literature that has already been canonized; it is itself a vehicle of recognition. By being analyzed and commented on in Bookbird and (let us be generous!) other academic journals, books from all over the world are recognized and “internationalized.” It is a dynamic process. For journals like Bookbird are not just reflectors of a given situation, but creators, too. The second question I have received is in many ways the complete opposite of what I have just discussed: “can I write for Bookbird even if I focus on well-known English books?” It stems from the notion that “international” [End Page 2] refers to literature that comes from outside one’s own national borders (or language community). For me, it would mean that anything not written in Swedish would be “international.” Thus, what is regarded as international depends on your nationality. In practice, however, the term has not gained much currency outside the United States and is almost uniquely applied to books that have not been published in the United States (or in English) originally. In these cases, I sympathize with the sentiment—why should Bookbird promote yet another article on English children’s literature? Yet it would be untenable and paradoxical to exclude children’s literature written in English in the name of “internationalization.” English children’s literature (and culture) is driven by the culture industry and reaches all corners of the world. For this reason alone, it is necessary not to ignore English children’s literature in a discussion of international children’s books. Moreover, English is an important vessel for literatures of diverse cultures and geographies, and not only the mouthpiece of the culture industry. These reasons aside, the simplest answer (which I offered one...

Kindgemäss und literarisch wertvoll. Untersuchungen zur Theorie des „guten Jugendbuchs“ – Anna Krüger, Richard Bamberger, Karl Ernst Maier by Sonja Müller

Reviewed by: Kindgemäss und literarisch wertvoll. Untersuchungen zur Theorie des „guten Jugendbuchs“ – Anna Krüger, Richard Bamberger, Karl Ernst Maier by Sonja Müller Michael Schmitt Translated by Nikola von Merveldt Kindgemäss und literarisch wertvoll. Untersuchungen zur Theorie des „guten Jugendbuchs“ – Anna Krüger, Richard Bamberger, Karl Ernst Maier (Suitable for children and of literary value: Studies on the theory of the “good children’s book”). Sonja Müller. Series: Kinder- und Jugendkultur, -literatur und -medien; 88. Frankfurt am Main u.a., Peter Lang Edition, 2014. 326pages. ISBN: 978-3-631-64501-7 In her doctoral thesis “Suitable for children and of literary value,” defended in 2012, Sonja Müller examines a brief and little studied phase in the development of children’s literature theory in the young German federal republic. In the 1950s and 60s, theories on the “good children’s book” were built on the visions of the postwar period for international understanding, as exemplified by the International Youth Library in Munich; they became established with the creation of institutions promoting quality children’s literature, such as the Arbeitskreis für Jugendschrifttum (Working committee for youth literature) or the Deutsche Jugendbuchpreis (German children’s literature award), and they paved the way for more intensive scholarly research in children’s literature—as in Frankfurt, where Klaus Doderer founded the Institut für Jugendbuchforschung (Institute for the Study of Children’s Literature) in 1963. In the [End Page 64] study “Histories of children’s literature” (2013) by Andrea Weinmann, this theory is hardly mentioned and is dismissed as irrelevant. Following the paradigm shift of the 1970s, theories of the “good children’s book” appear dated, even though their prime time coincided with the rise of a new kind of children’s literature, practiced by James Krüss or Otfried Preußler, which advocated the autonomous child. Müller’s study chronicles the histories both of the institutions and of the theoretical debates; she sketches the prehistory beginning in 1896 with Heinrich Wolgast’s call for aesthetically valuable children’s literature, followed by theories of reading-age, all the way to the “filth-and-trash” debates of the 1950s. Her focus is on three scholars who discuss children’s literature in different ways—looking at its aesthetic qualities, the suitability of its forms and media for children, and last but not least, its pedagogical benefit. The first of these chapters, which explore both the theories and the practice of contemporary literary criticism, presents Anna Krüger, who meticulously defined the concept of the good children’s book and attributed particular importance to the linguistic and literary qualities. Pedagogical issues are less important in her eyes; instead, she welcomes imagination and creative freedom, invokes Astrid Lindren, and supports the young generation of German-speaking authors. Despite all this, she considers even the best children’s book to be inferior to first-rate adult literature because writing for child addressees imposes limitations, such as not using experimental narrative devices. From the work of Krüger, who was denied a brilliant academic career, Sonja Müller goes on to present the ideas of the influential Austrian literary historian Richard Bamberger and of Karl Ernst Maier, whose literary histories continued to serve as textbooks in the 1980s. Bamberger and Maier share more conservative positions: Bamberger attaching more value to literacy, Maier to pedagogy. The three main chapters are accompanied by several shorter ones which sketch the contributions of other leading figures to the debate on what was to be considered good children’s literature. These figures include Walter Scherf, long-term director of the International Youth Library, and Malte Dahrendorf, who radically revoked his own theory on the good book in the 1970s. Building on the groundwork of her supervisor, Hans Heino Ewers, Müller succeeds in giving a dense account of the spectrum of theoretical concepts, teasing out the various constellations of progressive and conservative ideas underpinning them. The theories of the “good book” for young readers emerged when the prosperity in the young federal republic opened up new realms of experience for children; they declined in the mid-sixties when youth culture encouraged a massive culture of protest which led to...

Eesti laste- ja noortekirjandus 1991–2012 by Krista Kumberg et al.

Reviewed by: Eesti laste- ja noortekirjandus 1991–2012 by Krista Kumberg et al. Katja Wiebe Translated by Nikola von Merveldt Eesti laste- ja noortekirjandus 1991–2012 (Estonian literature for children and young adults 1991–2012). Krista Kumberg, Ilona Martson, Ave Mattheus, Mari Niitra, Jaanika Palm. Tallinn: Eesti Lastekirjanduse Keskus, 2014. 317pages. ISBN: 978-9985-9198-5-9 Anyone curious about Estonian children’s literature of the last two decades should definitely consult this 317-page compendium. The overview of the literary history, which can claim to be representative, begins in 1991 (the year of Estonian independence from the crumbling Soviet Union) and ends in 2012. It is the first comprehensive and systematic study of contemporary Estonian children’s literature. Published by the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre, the most important institution for the collection, research, and promotion of children’s literature in Estonia, this volume addresses a broad group of readers—including scholars, students, and librarians as well as educators and parents; publishers should equally be interested. The five contributors to this volume are well known in the field and have helped shape Estonian children’s literature as researchers, translators, and mediators. They meticulously trace the gradual evolution of a new Estonian literary landscape and the processes leading to the reconstruction of the children’s book scene. Given the immense political and cultural transformations of the early 1990s, which also hit the book sector, the volume starts by sketching the socio-cultural context in which Estonian literature for children and young adults developed. They mark two pivotal dates: 1990 for the “collapse” and 2000 for the “blossoming” of children’s literature in Estonia. Against this backdrop, Eesti laste-ja noortekirjandus introduces realistic and fantastic fiction for children as well as non-fiction published between 1991 and 2012, arranged by reading age (“Literature for early childhood,” children’s books, and young adult literature). Realistic fiction is subdivided into the categories of gender and genre (books for girls and for boys, problem books, crime and adventure novels) and into subject groups (orphanage, school, animals). Fantastic fiction provides an overview of the genres fairytales, the absurd, and science fiction and offers genre-specific characteristics, such as the irruption of the fantastic into the supposedly “normal” world and the departure of the familiar into the unfamiliar fantastic world. Separate chapters are dedicated to the genres of poetry and drama or theatre as well as to magazines for children and young adults and to the place of children’s literature within the digital, interactive media ecology. A unique feature of this book is the strong focus on “History and childhood memories.” A long section explores how children’s literature since 1991 addresses the seven critical phases or events of Estonia’s history. The twentieth century takes center stage with topics such as Estonia’s first republic, the Second World War, the occupation, or the early and late phases of the Soviet era. Furthermore, the compendium gives statistics on the Estonian children’s book production and awards. An extensive index of authors and illustrators completes the volume, which presents an indispensable resource on Estonian literature for children and young adults of the recent past. [End Page 67] Katja Wiebe International Youth Library Copyright © 2016 Bookbird, Inc

Editorial

Editorial Björn Sundmark (bio) When I was in my early teens I read J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. And then I read it again. And again. And again. Actually I read it eight, nine, or was it ten times in a row? I don’t remember exactly. But I do know that whenever I turned the last page of the third book, I picked up the first book again, barely leaving the Grey Havens with Frodo, before starting over with Bilbo’s party. I just wanted to be there in that other world. Yes, I lived in Middle Earth during a few very intense years. In some ways it was probably a more real and satisfying experience than being me at the time. In any case, no other book – or film or TV series, for that matter – has influenced me more deeply. I don’t expect to find another book that will give me the same thrill of wonder and fulfilment ever. But that doesn’t matter. The Lord of the Rings changed me, made me the ardent and obsessive book-lover that I am, constantly on the lookout for stories and images that can stir my being. Would I have devoted myself to literature and made it my profession, if it hadn’t been for Tolkien’s grand fantasy? I doubt it. I thought about this when I visited the Hobbiton film set on New Zealand a few days before the IBBY world congress 2016 in Auckland. Prior to the visit I was a bit apprehensive that it would be too commercial and superficial, and that it would in some way demean my own vision of Tolkien’s world. But somehow it worked. The reason, I think, is that Peter Jackson must have had a similar sea-changing experience of Middle Earth in his youth as I had. For only someone who deeply respects the original story can render it in such minute and loving detail – on screen as well as in landscaped New Zealand soil. Stories that really matter to us beg to be retold, orally, in writing, in pictures, in film, and sometimes by lovingly morphing the very earth. When editing this issue of Bookbird I also thought about other, newer stories and pictures that may have the potential to take hold of young readers in a similar way. For here we have articles of some of the best contemporary authors and illustrators in the world, the Andersen Award winners 2016 – Cao Wenxuan (China) and Rotraut Susanne Berner (Germany) – as well as the nominees, Louis Jensen (Denmark), Suzy Lee (Korea), Mirjam Pressler (Germany), Pejman Rahimizadeh (Iran), Ted van Lieshout (The Netherlands), Marit Törnqvist (The Netherlands), Alessandro Sanna (Italy), and Lois Lowry (USA). And I wonder whose young life is about to be enchanted or changed or given meaning because of the work of one of these outstanding storytellers in word and image. Will someone build stories with Wenxuan or “feel the Bern” with Berner’s illustrations? In this issue of Bookbird we get a glimpse of the work of all of these outstanding creators. On the cover you can see an illustration by Andersen winner Rotraut Susanne Berner. Further glimpses of visual storytelling can [End Page 2] be had in the journal pages: Berner, Rahimizadeh, Törnqvist, Sanna, and Lee – and others. This is something IBBY and Bookbird are proud of: our ambition to reproduce excellent visual material in our journal. Few, if any, academic journals do that. But we also get glimpses and snippets of the words and views of the ten finalist authors and illustrators. Critics and scholars have come together to produce an anthology of articles on the winners and other finalists. My thanks go out to this excellent group! These articles are both inspiring and learned, and fun to read. Finally, I should add that this Bookbird also hosts a few texts on other topics. Liz Page reports from the Auckland Congress among other things (Focus IBBY). Christiane Raabe of the International Youth Library reflects over a recent travelling exhibition, “Hello, Dear Enemy”: Picture Books for Peace and Humanity.” We also have two Letters – one on...

Hello, Dear Enemy! Picture Books for Peace and Humanity: Remarks on the International Youth Library Exhibition

Hello, Dear Enemy! Picture Books for Peace and HumanityRemarks on the International Youth Library Exhibition Christiane Raabe Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 57] The Idea Behind the Exhibition War, terror, and violence, insurmountable walls and borders, will exist as long as national struggles for power, ideologies, and fanaticism of all kinds threaten our communal human spririt. The “culture of peace” that UNESCO has been endorsing for years remains a distant goal. Images of violence, destruction, hatred and suffering and of poverty and misery dominate the headlines. Hundreds of thousands of people are on the run. Burdened by past trauma, they become neighbors to those who grew up in comfort and security. World events of the last months have propelled this topic to prominence in current discussions, yet it is not new. At the International Youth Library, the topic of war and peace has been of central concern for many years. We are especially interested in how picture books narrate the topic. Children are confronted in many ways by war, hostility, and escape—some bear its traumatic effects, others are not immediately affected but are inquisitive. Picture books dealing with this topic in literary and artistic ways cannot answer all questions nor can they still all fears, but they can provoke reflection and inspire dialogue that sensitizes readers to processes of exclusion and invites them jointly to reflect on the foundations for a peaceful future. Arising out of these considerations, the International Youth Library sent a “peace and tolerance” collection of forty picture books to the IBBY Congress in New Delhi in 1998. International interest in the books was so strong that the collection was reworked several times in the following years, enhanced with informational plates and a catalogue with commentary. The book exhibition “Hello, Dear Enemy! Picture Books for Peace and Tolerance” emerged from this collection of books and traveled the world: from Japan to Russia and Europe, all the way to the United States and Latin America. On the Current Version of “Hello, Dear Enemy!” In the fall of 2014, against the backdrop of the rapidly intensifying global crisis of the last two years, the exhibition was thoroughly updated in terms of its content, and a staging design for the presentation of the books was also developed. The exhibition now carries the slightly altered title “Hello, Dear Enemy! Picture Books for Peace and Humanity” and contains sixty picture books, of which the majority have been published within the last fifteen years. The exhibition is thematically divided into four groups which deal respectively with the concrete experiences of war and escape; the causes of war and violence; xenophobia and prejudice; and, finally, peace utopias. In contrast to earlier book selections, this exhibition focuses its content on the present; thus, picture books on the Holocaust and Hiroshima, which were given much room in earlier versions of the exhibition, are absent. This decision was made in part because compelling picture books have appeared in the last few years that directly consider the role of children in actual war zones and broach the experiences of persecution and escape. Also, the topics of the Holocaust and Hiroshima weigh so heavily that they ought to receive their own exhibitions. Most of the picture books in the exhibition convey assurance and a clear message. Reality as presented in picture books lies at a distance from the real world, given the straightforwardness of their stories and their abstract, funny, comic-like, naïve, or colorful illustrations. This allows children to encounter existential needs, fears, and threats without suffering traumatic effects. That said, these stories avoid sentimentality and downplaying as much as they avoid shocking directness. Instead, characteristic stylistic techniques of picture book illustration such as humor, facial miming, gestures, exaggeration, and simplification are utilized; the literary template of the animal fable is also often drawn upon. This creates a balance between the seriousness of the topic and what is appropriate for children to handle. In the category of “Lived experiences of war, destruction and escape,” there are picture books concerned with everyday life in crisis areas and with the reality of war, dictatorship, escape, homelessness, and uprootedness. In contrast to newspaper and...

ГРАЖДАНСКО-ПАТРИОТИЧЕСКОЕ НАПРАВЛЕНИЕ КАК СОСТАВЛЯЮЩАЯ ЧАСТЬ ДУХОВНО-НРАВСТВЕННОЙ ВОСПИТАТЕЛЬНОЙ РАБОТЫ В ДЕТСКО-ЮНОШЕСКОЙ БИБЛИОТЕКЕ

ГРАЖДАНСКО-ПАТРИОТИЧЕСКОЕ НАПРАВЛЕНИЕ КАК СОСТАВЛЯЮЩАЯ ЧАСТЬ ДУХОВНО-НРАВСТВЕННОЙ ВОСПИТАТЕЛЬНОЙ РАБОТЫ В ДЕТСКО-ЮНОШЕСКОЙ БИБЛИОТЕКЕ

Around the World in 70 Maps: The International Youth Library Presents a New Traveling Exhibition Featuring Three Centuries of Cartographic Treasures from Children’s Literature

Around the World in 70 Maps: The International Youth Library Presents a New Traveling Exhibition Featuring Three Centuries of Cartographic Treasures from Children’s Literature

The Third Russian Youth Library Convention

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On the Annual Meeting of Directors of Libraries for Children and Young Adults “New Children's Library: Factors of Success"

On the Annual meeting of Directors of children's and youth libraries "New children’s library: factors of success", held at the Russian State Library for Children on 23-25 September, 2014.

Entre la infancia y la edad adulta: los jóvenes y su relación con el material audiovisual en la biblioteca pública

Adolescence is a period of disinterest in reading because the motivations change. The public library can offer young people an important aid in the transition from childhood to adulthood and open the gateway to information resources in any type of media, whether printed or audiovisual. The main objective of this work is the design and implementation of the program "Fridays we are in the library", which aims to include young people in the project of the Public Library in Zamora. We organized six sessions with a group of 20 young people between 15 and 18 years. The first and clearest conclusion is that there are many possibilities to include young people in the public library project, both in terms of physical space, and the materials and activities. Youth participants in this program say they have met their expectations because they are funny, have met new people and have been part of a very active group in the task of designing the perfect youth library, where audiovisual material comes an essential place.

Bologna: Fifty Years of Children’s Books from Around the World ed. by Giorgia Grilli (review)

Reviewed by: Bologna: Fifty Years of Children’s Books from Around the World ed. by Giorgia Grilli Valerie Coghlan Bologna: Fifty Years of Children’s Books from Around the World. By Giorgia Grilli (ed.). Bologna: Bononia UP, 2013. 2 vols. 535 pages; 147 pages. ISBN 978-88-7395-814-7; ISBN 978-88-7395-830-7. The Bologna Children’s Book Fair was first held in 1964, a significant decade in 20th century history, and also a significant time in the creation and publication of books for children. In the ensuing years, the fair has become a landmark event for all with a professional interest in children’s books. Publishers dominate, as Bologna is primarily a trade fair. The halls are packed with stands displaying books from countries and regions across the globe. Most are commercial: publishers are there to promote their wares, and especially to sell international rights. But it is more than that. The fair has developed into a space where people from many countries and disciplines all get together to talk about their passion for children’s books. Aspiring illustrators and students wander the halls with portfolios under their arms, hoping to meet some publisher who will recognize their talents. Established authors, picture book creators, critics, academics, librarians, media people, all come to take part in or to listen to discussions at the many events during the Fair. There are stands sponsored by national and international organizations and agencies, all featuring books from different regions. The IBBY stand is a core part of the fair, and a place where people come to see some of the best books from around the world in displays such as the Hans Christian Andersen Award nominees, the IBBY Honour Books and books for children with disabilities. The International Youth Library from Munich also represents international aspects of children’s books with their displays of publications, which have received the accolade of the Youth Library’s White Ravens. The Nami Island Illustration Concours stand and presentations are an increasingly attractive and important showcase for the best in illustration from around the world, and the winners of two internationally prestigious awards, IBBY’s Hans Christian Andersen Awards for writing and for illustration, and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) are announced at the Fair. The Fair’s own Bologna Ragazzi awards recognize talented authors and illustrators, and each year a specific country is featured at the Fair as a “guest of honour” in the exhibition space. To mark the 50 years since the Bologna Book Fair’s inception, a handsome two-volume publication in a slipcase has been produced. The slimmer volume (it is still substantial) is a photographic record of the Fair and its participants over the years. This complements the section at the back of the second volume in which many of those who regularly attend the Fair talk about what the Fair means, or has meant, to them. It is rather a pity that these two sections are not together, because it would have made the volume of articles lighter! The articles of the second volume are divided into two sections: one charting the development of the Fair, and the second containing essays based on presentations at a conference held in 2013 to mark the Fair’s [End Page 94] anniversary. One of the remarkable features demonstrated in the opening articles is the extent to which the Book Fair is so evidently part of the city of Bologna; for Bologna, this is no ordinary trade fair, but a cultural event of note. The second and longer group of articles—ambitiously titled 1964-2013: A World History of Children’s Books—discusses books from around the world. The focus is on picturebooks, understandably, as the language of the “picturebook” is an international one, and exposure to so much visual content is a very evident and exciting part of the Fair. The articles are replete with information charting the history of book-production in countries or regions around the globe. Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the Arab countries are all dealt with as regions, rather than in articles featuring individual countries, although some of the most exciting developments are emerging in these areas...

“Knuffle Bunny Meets Rosa Parks” at the International Youth Library, Award-Winning American Picture Books from the Lawrence R. Sipe Collection

“Knuffle Bunny Meets Rosa Parks” at the International Youth Library, Award-Winning American Picture Books from the Lawrence R. Sipe Collection

THE ROLE OF CHILDREN’S LIBRARIES IN DEVELOPING A MULTICULTURAL DIALOGUE

ABSTRACTInternationale Jungendbibliothek München – International Youth Library in Munich has been collecting books for children and youth in all languages since its foundation in 1949 and it is the biggest library of this kind in the world. The intercultural dialogue encourages a number of different activities: lending children’s and youth literature in 14 different languages, early literacy programmes for pre-school children in nationally mixed groups and programmes for school children and youth, English language courses, wide programme of exhibitions and scholarships for authors and publishers of children’s and youth literature as well as for educators. The library publishes the annual catalogue »The White Ravens«, bringing the selection of the best children’s and youth literature in the world. It has turned out to be a reference tool for all dealing with literature for these two age groups.

Multicultural dialogue in the school library

ABSTRACTNowadays many countries are confronted with the sudden and increased number of child immigrants which has a strong impact on education systems. A school library plays an important role in the development of intercultural dialogue as it keeps materials in many languages and develops different ways of youth activity. Fiction and nonfiction show the abundance of habits and cultures in the world, they reveal different life stories and encourage the idea of diversity. A youth library encourages the intergenerational and intercultural dialogue. In the environment with a lot of immigrantsit is very important for the library to consider the needs of the youth and to cooperate with their parents, too. The school in which most of the pupils do not speak Slovenian as their mother tongue is described. Library activities encourage their interest in learning the language of their new environment. Well developed literacy has a great impact on their educational results, but it is true that people can not understand other cultures unless they are aware of their own cultural identity.

Methods of Determining the Functions of the Regional Libraries

The article is devoted to the matters related to determination of functions of the regional libraries: universal, research, children's, youth libraries and libraries for the blind. There are substantiated the methodological principles allowing to organize the system of functions in the conditions of diversity of approaches and designations, proposed in the dedicated print media, as well as there are identified the directions of actualization of functions in the modern circumstances.

Djetinjstvo i umjetnost moderne

Nowadays it is common practice to exhibit children’s books and picturebooks in libraries and museums, not to mention the increasing interest in the foundations of special museums devoted to the collection, exhibition, and archiving of historical and modern children’s literature. Prominent examples are the International Youth Library in Munich, the picturebook museum “Burg Wissem” in Troisdorf, Germany, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, USA, and the Picturebook Museum in Iwaki City, Japan. Besides these museums, libraries, book conventions, and academic institutions consecrate themselves to the exposition of children’s books in different contexts. Considering this accretive interest, one has to bear in Libri & Liberi • 2013 • 2 (1): 11-28

Development of Information Literacy of Schoolchildren: Issues and Approaches

The author made an attempt to generalize available experience of activity on development of the schoolchildren information culture (IC). The problems in dealing with information specific to staff of children and youth libraries are considered in the paper. The main approaches - the traditional and active - to the development of IC are shown.

Turning a page on access to international children's books

Purpose ‐ The purpose of this article is to help those new to the practice of finding international children's books online navigate this exciting if confusing area of reference sources.Design/methodology/approach ‐ This article reviews the International Children's Digital Library that has revolutionized connecting children and books worldwide since 2002. However, there have been organizations busy identifying, evaluating, recommending and keeping lists and annotations of excellent international books for children since the 1940s. This article also reviews resources created by organizations, including the International Youth Library, the International Board on Books for Young People, international book fairs, Banco del Libro and other entities.Findings ‐ The article finds that, there is benefit to be gained from the expansion of international children's book resources into the world of the internet and that those who compiled both types of resource want to connect the world's children with quality literature.Originality/value ‐ This article offers information about historical context, partnerships, and hosting sites that have led to online access to many of these once print only resources. This review of these resources is original as it covers those who originated sources with the shared goal. That goal is their dedication to bring children and books together around the world and to build understanding and solutions together as members of a global community.

Alliances, Partnerships and an Ethiopian Journey: The Story of Mekelle’s Children’s Library

Janet Lee, Technical Services Librarian and Associate Professor, Regis University, devoted her sabbatical leave for joining Yohannes Gebregeorgis, 2008 CNN Hero, and establishing the Segenat Children and Youth Library in Mekelle, Ethiopia. Lee discusses successes and challenges in setting up a library in a developing country.